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schmoozing and talking about the bright future of digital music. They scheduled a follow-up meeting for the next week at Universal’s office. When Citron went in for the follow-up, it was as if New York had never happened. “The business guys blew the whole thing up,” he said. By this stage, Citron was used to being disappointed by the industry. Now he was just puzzled. Why had they bothered to spend a whole day with him before reverting to the same old tease? “They saw it as an opportunity to teach us a lesson,” he concluded.

Trying to make the most of what progress he had made, Citron returned to New York for a visit with Al Smith on the upper floors of the landmark AT&T building. In the conference room, Citron played a little harder than he had before. “We’re close to a couple deals,” he told Smith, who glared. “I don’t think you can pull it off,” he said. “We can, and we’re going forward with you or without you,” Citron responded. Smith started screaming, and he ordered Citron out of the room. “You won’t get any music!” he shouted at Citron’s back. “Yes, we will!” Citron shouted over his shoulder. “You won’t get Ricky Martin!” Smith said, referring to one of Sony’s top sellers of the day. “We’ll get plenty!” Citron retorted, still walking. “You won’t get Mariah Carey!” Smith yelled. Citron left, shaking his head. It was all so primitive. The industry valued tough guys, the more street-smart the better. “There were all these ‘whose-is-bigger’ arguments,” said Citron. “It’s people clinging to a way of life.”

An entire year passed in haggling after Warner had agreed to do something with MusicNet. In April 2001, as Citron was resigning—and the day before congressional hearings on the record industry’s snaillike digital efforts—Glaser announced that MusicNet was a success. Warner, Bertelsmann, and EMI had signed up, and when the technology was worked out, they would begin licensing music. Sony and Vivendi Universal went their own way, again joined by EMI, with the Pressplay service. When the two systems were finally opened to the public, at the very end of 2001, they were an undesirable mishmash, reflecting every bit of the struggle that had gone into their construction. With MusicNet, $9.95 a month brought the right to stream, or listen just once, to one hundred songs a month. A hundred other songs could be downloaded but were rendered unplayable at the end of the month. Pressplay was better, offering four different subscription plans. The top-of-the-line Pressplay plan,